Fly Like a Butterfly
by lanatomie
Summary: Dirge thought that an attack on the Autobot base was the best way to prove himself to Megatron. But when he messes up, he finds himself on the run from the Autobots. He's too scared to land and too afraid to go back to Megatron, what's a conehead to do?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: **Well! LONG TIME NO SEE EVERYONE. I've finally written a brand new story, and I fully INTEND TO FINISH IT, YO. :D So enjoy my take on a fairly unpopular character: _Dirge_! :'D And to make this completely clear, the universe is Generation 1. I haven't watched the full series in awhile, so forgive me for any mistakes. And there IS a Decepticon moonbase for those who didn't know~

* * *

><p><strong>August 4th, 2011 <strong>

**United States of America, Detroit, Michigan. Earth.**

The weather was calm that day, which was odd because the wind rarely ever agreed with the rest of the beautiful scenery, especially around this time of the year. Nature went about its usual business, paying no mind to the obviously out of place and rather _large_ being. The light breeze carried along trails of dust and leaves, attaching themselves to his body. The mech frowned, and shook unwanted particles off of his body.

Dirge watched from his position on the mountainside as the world slowly went on around him. It may have been a little on the warmer side, but he certainly didn't care. The sun reflected off his blue armor, warming the cone-headed mech's many systems. Dirge didn't have much to do, not that he ever did, especially on days like this. A lazy, calm, seemingly perfect morning not so far away from the human civilization they called 'Detroit' in the Northern Americas.

He sighed. He was envious of this world, as disgusting as it was. Mudball or not, this planet was more peaceful than Cybertron has been as of late; especially with the constant sneaking around, and then the bloodshed there was when you were caught, even by your own faction.

Standing up, Dirge brushed himself off, beginning to make his way to the end of the mountain edge and abruptly, without hesitating, stepped right off the ledge. Now, if he was human or even a ground-bot, he would have been in deep trouble; carelessly walking off a cliff like that. If he didn't find a way to stop himself from falling, he would have been crushed, impaled or mangled beyond belief.

Luckily, this was not so. Dirge, as odd as the mechanism might be, is a seeker. Seekers are just like any other mech... with the exception that they have the ability to fly. They were specifically designed to be able to soar through the skies and tear through winds, but there is one side effect: their attitudes. Something about the power of flight made some bots kind of… well, their personalities were more intense than that of your average bot. Seeker's personalities are absolutely arbitrary and annoying beyond belief. This excuse usually explains his and others' abnormal behavior and widely diverse personalities, but it all just comes in the package of being one of these effective flyers.

Beginning the instinctive routine of transforming his body, Dirge activated his thrusters mid-drop. Spinning and twisting his gears in an almost graceful way, he fired up his engines. The sudden sound echoed across the lake, startling the wildlife. Birds took off in all directions, deer scattered, and woodland critters scrambled away to safety. He took to the skies once the last bolt slid into place, and was once again feeling the rush of the wind against his wings.

Doing a quick barrel roll, Dirge prepared for atmospheric exit. To a normal aircraft, this feat would have been impossible, but as you've probably realized by now, Dirge is no normal aircraft. He may not be as effective or as powerful as his treacherous seeker-in-arms (not to mention higher in rank) Starscream, but he can still manage interstellar flight.

With one last scan of his systems, Dirge shot towards the sky, flying higher and higher until he was no longer in the damp skies of Earth and was cruising through the empty vastness of space. He flew in the direction of Earth's moon, where his faction's homebase, a Decepticon warship, _The Nemesis, _was currently located due to a crash landing. He pinged Soundwave, a silent request to open the doors to the base.

Soundwave is the Decepticons' main communications officer and third in command of the Decepticons. He rarely ever spoke, and when he did he spoke in a very digitized and monotonous voice.

Complying, Soundwave allowed Dirge to gain entrance to their base, opening the doors to the ship. No words of greeting or acknowledgment met Dirge, which was to be expected from the monotonous communications officer.

With a swift motion, Dirge landed with a resounding 'thud' that echoed throughout the hanger. Straightening himself up, Dirge trekked into the main communications office and approached where Soundwave was seated.

"Soundwave," He said, trying to get the mech's attention. "Is there anything in the databanks that says I have any missions?"

"Negative," was all the mech replied with, not taking his optics (or visor, in his case) off of the computer screen.

Dirge, dejected, asked again. "…Are you sure? I haven't had a mission assigned to me in- "

"Positive." Soundwave cut in, eyes still unmoving from the computer screen. He paused, as if getting a message, and then said, "Megatron wishes to see you."

Surprised and fearful as to what his leader would want from him, Dirge responded with a silent grunt of acknowledgement and turned from Soundwave, exiting the communications office. Why would Megatron want to see him? It could only mean something absolutely terrible, but at the risk of something even _more_ terrifying happening if he ran away, Dirge skulked up to the main command room, which was at the front of the large warship. Attempting to look as professional and as non-pathetic as possible, Dirge stood up straight and entered the throne room, prepared for whatever Megatron was going to say to him. When he entered, the first thing he noticed were his coneheaded trine-mates, Ramjet and Thrust, (a trine is a group of three seekers that have forged a connection with each other, though that doesn't necessarily mean they get along all the time.) standing beside Starscream, also a seeker and the Decepticons second in command, who was stationed behind a large throne, which held the Decepticons fearsome, almighty leader, Megatron.

After approaching Megatron's seat, Dirge bowed. "Lord Megatron, you wished to see me?" He asked.

"Ah… Dirge. How good of you to finally join us." Megatron said, "Rise." Dirge rose. "Do you know why you're here, Dirge?" He didn't respond at first. "Well? Answer me."

"N-no, sir." Dirge responded, eyes flickering back and forth between Megatron and his two trine-mates.

"Why don't you start by telling me when was your last successful assignment was?" Megatron practically purred out the question.

Dirge looked down. "I…"

"SPEAK, Dirge." Megatron commanded, "Do _not_ waste my time."

"I-I don't know, Lord Megatron." Dirge finally responded, looking down at the floor.

Megatron's optics narrowed. "Is that so…" He stood up, and strode over to where Dirge was standing in attention. Then, without warning, he hit Dirge so hard that he went flying across the room, slamming into the wall that was behind him. Ramjet and Thrust's optics were wide with fear, but they could not do anything to help their trinemate in fear of being punished themselves.

Motionless and in pain, Dirge looked up, fear evident in his shaking voice. "L-lord Megatron, sir?"

"You're nothing but a failure, letting those Autobots and now _humans_ defeat you and your own trine continuously… You three are the worst of the seeker trines, yet _you're _the one who's most detestable!" Dirge attempted to get back up, but Megatron just hit him again and he fell face-down onto the floor. "You're supposed to be their trine-leader, yet you lead them to constant failure and you fail me as well. And I have no use for worthless trash."

Dirge shakily sat up on his knees, sniveling, and begged, "P-please sir, don't do this, give me and my trine a-another chance to prove ourselves, I promise we won't fail you again j-just please give us another– "

Megatron cut him off, "You're worse than _Starscream_." Starscream visibly scowled at the insult, but it went unnoticed by Megatron, who kicked Dirge in the chassis multiple times. It was evidently becoming clear that Dirge would not stay conscious for very much longer, and finally Megatron stopped beating him senseless. He turned to Dirge's trinemates. "Perhaps I will give you and your trine leader one last chance." He looked down at Dirge. "But if you fail me one more time, I will personally make sure you do not live to see the next _solar cycle._"

Dirge only twitched in response. Megatron looked up, and called out to the communications officer who was no doubt recording everything that had just occured, "Soundwave. Call in Hook and get him to prepare the medical bay. His trinemates will help carry him to the medbay." And with that, Megatron exited the room with Starscream in tow, passing the Decepticon medic Hook on their way out.

The last thing Dirge remembered was being lifted and carried out of the room, but he was far too battered to pay any more attention. With one last look at his trinemate Ramjet, Dirge fainted. **  
><strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**_Hurray new chapter! Sorry if it's a bit short!_**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

_**The Star Drive**_** Decepticon warship, Earth's moon, Space**

_PRIMARY SYSTEMS__...__ REBOOTING … ONLINE_

_SECONDARY SYSTEMS… REBOOTING … ONLINE_

"… rge."

_PROCESSOR RUNNING SPEED … 70%_

_LOCAL SCANNERS … ONLINE_

"… _irge__._"

_VISUAL SENSORS … ONLINE_

_AUDITORY FUNCTIONS … ONLINE_

"... _**DIRGE**_! I _know _you're functional, wake up before I MAKE you, you overgrown slagheap! "

A voice was growling at him from above; a very angry, irritated, and restless voice that Dirge knew too well. He opened his eyes. "Oh _no_…"

The acting medical officer of the Decepticons, Hook, was staring down at Dirge through his red visor, his purple and green colored bulk glinting in the light of medical bay. "Oh _yes_, glitchhead. It's me… now _don't move _while I work on you or you'll end up looking more like a slagheap than you already do."

Glaring at the medic, Dirge glanced around the room. Large slabs of bent metal, acting as berths for mechs to lie in if they have the misfortune of having to stay in the medical bay, were spread across the dark and angular room. Some were as large as Megatron, and others were only a few feet larger than an adult human. Tools of all shapes and sizes were spread around the room, some even hanging menacingly from the ceiling.

He groaned, why was he in here again? He racked his brain for answers, but it was all a bit fuzzy. It should be too, considering his head had a rather large fist sized dent in it. If he was in here, then he must be in pretty bad shape. Grumbling, he glanced at Hook, who was tinkering with something in his right leg, or what was left of it anyway. It looked like the lower half of his leg bent the _opposite_ direction it was supposed to. It looked on the verge on falling off.

_PROCESSOR RUNNING SPEED … 80% _

"… What happened?" Groaning again, Dirge tried to sit up only to be pushed back down by Hook. "ACK WHAT-"

"I just said to not move!I might accidently remove something important, and you wouldn't want that, would you?" Hook jibed, pulling an angular screwdriver hanging from the metal rafters on the ceiling and resumed tinkering. "I only brought you online this early to find out which systems are running properly and which aren't. _Obviously_ you took some major damage to your processor since you seem to have trouble listening to instructions, you glitch."

_PROCESSOR RUNNING SPEED … 90%_

Dirge glared at the medic, but he felt too beat up and exhausted to even raise his arm in a threatening manner. His entire body frame felt stiff and he could feel every painful dent in his armor, even the ones Hook had already fixed and popped out.

Hook took his right knee and bent it back to it's original position and began rewiring. "Most of your damage was just cosmetic and was easily reparable. The leg and the dent in your head were the only serious damages. If your processor is running slower, well slower than it normally does, it's most likely because of that dent in your head. It had gotten some wires jumbled and I had to go and untangle it and pop out the dent itself in your helm too."

"So," Dirge began gruffly, "What are the chances of me getting out here anytime soon? 'Cause I don't want to spend more cycles than I have to staring at your ugly mug – OW!" Dirge yelped as a sharp pain went through his body. "Why would you_ do_ that?" Dirge quickly sat up again, only to have even more pain shoot through his body again. "Oh ow…"

"Oh _shut up_, you idiot!" Hook yelled, "I am trying to fix you, and as much as I want to just throw you into the slag heap and whisk you off to the pit, Megatron ordered me to fix you up to the best of my abilities. Though _why_ he would, after the massive beating he gave you yesterday, is beyond me."

_PROCESSOR RUNNING SPEED … 100%_

_FULL MEMORY ACCESSABLE_

_ALL MAIN AND MINOR FUNCTIONS OPERATIONAL_

Dirge sneered, but rubbed his head. All the events from yesterday were coming back to him. He was called to the throne room and Megatron told him how much of disappointment he is and beat the slag out of him… and then he passed out. But if Megatron had beat him up that badly, surely he would have wanted to keep him that way, wouldn't he?

Why would he send him to the medbay to get fixed up? He remembered Megatron saying something right before he blacked out, but he can only vaguely remember something about being given another chance. Could this be true? Is Megatron willing to give him another chance to prove himself? Supposedly his functional state is proof of this thought, but Dirge needed to confirm this immediately.

Waiting until it seemed like Hook was done with most of the repairs and his back was turned, Dirge jumped off the birth and rushed towards to the exit and towards his quarters, which is where he and his trinemates rested. He could hear the medic screaming profanities, but he ignored them and continued on his way down the hall. He couldn't ask Starscream or Soundwave as they would most likely ignore him, and he _certainly_ couldn't ask Megatron himself.

He turned to the two mechs he knew he could at least trust a little bit; his trinemates, Ramjet and Thrust.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Here we go! New chapter! Enjoy c:**_

**Chapter 3**

After walking a short distance, Dirge made it to his quarters. He stopped in front of the door, and heard the voices of his trinemates on the other side. After punching in a pass code into the door opening it, he walked in. Ramjet and Thrust were silent the moment he entered and it looked as if Thrust was about to leave since he was already half way to the door. Dirge moved to allow room for Thrust to exit.

"Nice to see you functioning, bolt-head." Said Thrust. As he began walking towards the exit, he punched Dirge in the shoulder and said, "I was starting to think you wouldn't end up coming back judging from how terribly Megatron beat you up! Good thing you're functioning again, otherwise we'd be short a member and wouldn't be able to go and have our fun with the Autobots!" He cackled.

Dirge rolled his eyes. "Shut up Thrust! I'm _really_ not in the mood."

"Aw Dirge, I'm hurt!" Thrust said, sarcasm lacing his words.

"At least Ramjet won't be an ass about what happened. Just leave already."

Thrust laughed. "Pft, oh please. You know you deserve it after- wha HEY!"

Dirge pushed him out the door before he could continue talking. "Thank you, and don't come again!" He could hear Thrust laughing from the other side of the door and finally turned towards Ramjet. "Idiot…"

"So," Ramjet began. "How was it at the uh, _medical_ bay? If you could call it that…"

"Painful. Hook was as awful as ever. I think he enjoys it."

"Of course he does! And I should know considering how often I have to go for check ups… Constructicons are nearly as sadistic as Megatron. But we have to listen to him anyway, since he's the apparent CMO of the 'cons."

Dirge snorted, "If you could call him that… he's the closest thing to a medic the Decepticons could scrounge up! He's not a very good one either. I think he likes to _cause_ more pain rather than relieve it. He's such a piece of scrap at his job sometimes."

"Don't let him hear you say that, you might not get out of your next visit to the med bay. You know how much he loves that title. Flaunts it about like it's the most important thing in the world..." Ramjet laughed. "The only one who probably gets his full respect is his team and Megatron. Biased little glitch…"

"Ah slag him. My real problem is Megatron anyway." He sat down and rested his arm against the wall, moving it about and testing his motor functions, "Boy does he pack a _punch._"

"What did you expect? He's the leader of the Decepticons. It's not like he's going to go soft on you."

Dirge heaved a sigh, "I don't understand. Why did Megatron get so angry? What did I do that's so 'terrible and disappointing'?"

Ramjet pointedly stared at him, "You're kidding right?" At Dirge's confused look, he clarified. "Remember the last energon raid we had? Or at least tried to have? You had one job! And that was to supervise the humans, and you couldn't even do that! You let one of them escape, and that human used her phone to call the Autobots!"

Dirge rose up his arms in defense, "I didn't even see her! She was five feet tall! Of course she got away, it was a big crowd of humans! Anyone could have made that mistake!"

"A mistake that badly damaged some of our own troops causing them to barely lose what energon they had left? You could have just shot her!"

"I couldn't have done that!" He cried.

"And why not?"

Dirge looked nervous and shifted in his position. Why couldn't he have just shot her? It was just a human. An insect. Just like all six billion of them on this planet.

* * *

><p><em>Somewhere in a desert in the state of Oregon, a nuclear power plant is being occupied by a group of scientists who are working and rushing about, getting information to and fro their fellow colleagues. Some are on computers while others are standing with clipboards observing a large machine mounted on the wall, which seems to be used as one of the many power sources for the facility itself.<em>

_One woman, short in stature but with an air of professionalism, is standing on the catwalk above the machine. She obviously takes her job rather seriously. She reaches into her pocket and took out an old looking cell phone. She begins checking through her messages and smiling fondly, the messages are from her daughter asking her about her day. She begins typing out a reply when the ground suddenly gives multiple loud shudders and thumps, and she falls to the ground, cell phone falling out of hand, and nearly topples over the side of the catwalk to the ground below._

_She hears her assistant call out her name, "Doctor Smith! Are you alright?"_

_She staggers a bit, "Yes, Connie, I'm fine. I'm fine. What was that?"_

"_I don't know, doctor! It might have been an earthquake or…" Connie is cut off by giant hole being blasted into the side of the building. Giant mechanical forms fill in the hole and begin filing in one by one. "…or the Decepticons! Everyone, take cover!"_

"_How observant, human. Though it will be of no use." The big silver Decepticon says. Most of the scientists recognize the evil leader of the Decepticons, Megatron. "Dirge!" He calls._

_The Decepticon runs up to meet his leader. "Yes, Lord Megatron?"_

"_Deal with the humans. Do not let them leave your sight! I don't want anything to happen during this mission that could even possibly compromise it! Shoot any who try to escape!" He ordered._

"_Yes, mighty Megatron." Dirge bows, and begins herding the humans into the corner of the room._

_Doctor Smith starts running towards the stairs to ground level, toward the exit, but is picked up by the collar by a blue and yellow cone headed Decepticon. Dirge puts her down into the corner with the other scientists, but not before laughing, "Ha! Humans are pretty short to me, but you're the shortest I've ever seen!" Smith only frowns and tries to struggle, but he laughs and tosses her down with the others, turning around to search for more humans to corral._

_Doctor Smith looks at what is going on around her. Her fellow scientists look white as a sheet, no doubt frightened by the sheer size and intensity of these menacing robots. The robots in question are extracting the energy from the nuclear plant into cube-like energy containers, which are pink. She isn't surprised by any of this, though. Doctor Smith has experienced this before; Decepticons had come and attacked her previous job outpost. She was scared and inexperienced then, but now she knows what she has to do. She has to call the only ones who know how to and who _could _defeat these malicious aliens. Doctor Smith has to call in the Autobots._

_She has their emergency number in her contacts in case something like this ever happened to her again, but she lost her phone when the ground shook. It had fallen off the catwalk, and if she's lucky it's nearby and not shattered into pieces. She scans the floor for her cell phone, and to her unbelievable luck, it's nearby. She can see it; it's only about twenty feet away. She looks up; the blue cone-headed robot isn't paying attention, he's too busy collecting the other scientists to mind the ones he's already gathered. The other robots are busy collecting their pink energy cubes._

_She decides to go for it. Backing up a bit first, she begins sprinting towards the phone. She reaches it quickly and dials the number, but it doesn't go unnoticed. The blue robot, Dirge, is back. And he looks horrified. "You did NOT just call the Autobots, did you?"_

"_Yes, I did. Now I don't care what you do to me, but if it means that the Autobots get here and stop you from doing this to another plant, then so be it." Smith said as she backed up into the crowd._

_This course of events doesn't go unnoticed by the leader, Megatron. "DIRGE. You idiot! What have you done? THE AUTOBOTS WILL BE HERE ANY SECOND! **SHOOT HER**!"_

"_Y-yes Lord Megatron!" Dirge snaps up, pulls out his gun, and points it at the crowd of people. He powers up his weapon, ready to shoot… but something stops him. He hesitates. Something won't let him shoot the doctor or any of the other humans. _'But why… why can't I shoot them? Something's stopping me. But what?'_ Does he know what it's like to be at the end of the gun, and how frightening it could be at the verge of death? Yes, he does. He lives on fear, but that is also what he himself has felt all his life. Frightened, scared, afraid to die. He feels the humans' fear, and this is what makes him hesitate. His thoughts were distracting him, and an Autobot soldier came flying in through the already made hole, and directly in Dirge's line of fire, tackling him to the ground. He gets up immediately, but fear overtakes him, and he retreats back to base, taking his trine with him and not looking back at the bloodbath between the two factions._

* * *

><p>"Speaking of Megatron, before I blacked out, did he say I get to have a second chance?"<p>

Ramjet slowly answered, "Yeah…"

"Did he say how? Did he tell you anything?"

"Yeah, but you aren't going to like it."

Dirge looked irritated, "Okay, whatever! Just tell me!"

Ramjet distanced himself; he knows how angry Dirge can get; he starts throwing things. "Are you sure…?"

Dirge was definitely irritated now. He stood up, "YES I'm sure! Just slagging tell me already!"

"He said…"

"Yes…?"

"He said to 'Figure it out yourself.'" Ramjet was now on guard.

Dirge paused, and then groaned. "What!"

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN:_ Sorry about the short chapter this time. It was kind of rushed! The next one will be longer and it won't just dialogue. I'll probably end up rewriting this chapter so stay tuned for that!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"_What_?" Dirge rose up from his seat in confusion, glaring at Ramjet.

Ramjet, startled, slowly responded. "Yeah. Megatron made it perfectly clear that in order to get back into his 'good graces', you'll have to figure out how to do it on your own." He eyed Dirge warily, and leaned back to keep his distance from his seething teammate.

"Oh you've got to be _kidding_ me!" Dirge cried, running his hands down his face in desperation. He paced back and forth through the room and through his arms up in the air in defeat. "That's it. I'm going to die! We're _all_ going to die! How am I supposed to figure this out? Slaggit, this is all that damn human's fault!"

"Would you shut up?" Ramjet injected, unsuccessfully trying to get Dirge to calm down. "We just have to figure this whole thing out, and screaming like a sparkling isn't going to help us!"

Dirge kicked the wall and sighed. He really hated the situation. Why was it always _him_? He swiftly turned and glowered at Ramjet. "Well, you got any ideas? This is your problem too; if I get kicked out, we _all_ get kicked out." He dropped down into his chair, sinking into the seat with his arms crossed.

"Why don't we just attack the ARK?" Ramjet inquired after a moment's pause. He leaned back in his seat as if in thought, and then added, "It's the only thing Megatron likes to do more than beating you up, anyway."

Dirge rolled his eyes and glared at Ramjet in agitation. "Are you an idiot?"

Ramjet looked up sharply in surprise. _He_ thought it was a good plan. He glared back, a slight hiss in his tone betrayed his own annoyance. "_What_?"

"That's got to be the worst plan I've ever heard! Storming the Autobots' main base of operations where a majority of their army is probably stationed? That's definite suicide." He was tempted to slap Ramjet right on the head, but he just didn't have the energy for it at the moment. "What are you even thinking?"

"Well we have to do _something_! Energon is difficult to come by even WITH the whole Decepticon army at Megatron's disposal so we can't go looking for that, so our only choice is to go against the Autobots! What else can we do?"

Dirge groaned and threw his arms up in frustration, again. He sat up and put a hand on his head. "But on our own? We'd be completely outnumbered; we'd get killed immediately. And I don't know about you, but I'm not in the mood to get slagged any time soon!" The intonation of his voice rose, nearly betraying his own fear.

"Sissy."

"Shut up!"

"You're probably right though." Ramjet agreed after a moment, looking back up at Dirge. "We would get killed on the spot; but we can still try and find _some_ way." He paused, thoughtful, then asked, "Where's Thrust? He should be back by now. Maybe he's got an idea."

"Thrust?" Dirge groused. "I don't need that snarky idiot distracting me." Thrust was well known for being a general pain and public annoyance, even towards his own team. Dirge _really_ didn't need the distraction at the moment.

"Yeah you're right, he probably wouldn't even go with you. Hell, even I'm not going to go with you the entire way. This was all your fault in the first-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the doors to the quarters slid open to reveal Thrust. Sauntering in, the red mech grabbed a vacant spot by the wall on left of the room and leaned on the empty space. He dipped his head to face his teammates. "What about not going? Where are we not going?"

Ramjet turned to face his red teammate who had suddenly made his appearance, and responded, "Dirge has to come up with a plan to get us back into Megatron's 'good graces'." Ramjet replied, making quote symbols with his fingers.

"What, _Dirge? _Oh primus, we're doomed!" Thrust guffawed, throwing his head back to meet the wall.

Dirge growled. "Shut up, both of you!" He was getting impatient, sometimes they just never knew when to stop talking. "You're not helping!"

"Do you even have anything so far? Any ideas, at _all_?" Thrust asked, looking up at the ceiling. He then chuckled to himself and said, "Let me guess, trained chimps?"

Dirge glared. "No_._ Even worse. Ramjet here just suggested we go straight to the Autobots' base and just start shooting at everything that moves."

"I never said that!"

Thrust threw his head back in laughter, "Man, 'Jet. I knew you were a bit _blunt_ when it comes to things, but holy scrap! You've got to be kidding!"

Ramjet leaned his head on his arms, an expression of irritation gracing his features. "What else can we do, Thrust? It's not like we've got a better plan."

"Don't worry, idiot." He grinned. "I've got one_._"

Dirge's eyes narrowed a fraction and then inclined his head toward Thrust, arms crossed and posture tight. "And what would that be?"

His grin turned devilish. "_Sabotage._"

"Sorry?" Dirge asked, his voice a low and irritated grumble. "Care to elaborate?" His tone rose to a harsh tone, harsher than it usually was when addressing his teammates even when they acted like idiots a majority of the time, but the situation called for it. He couldn't afford to have Thrust continue to waste his time. He needed his full attention, and by Primus he was going to make sure he had it.

Thrust shrugged, ignoring the obvious edge that surfaced in his commander's tone. He unfolded his arms in order to saunter over in a loose-limbed and informal way toward one of the chairs in the room. He didn't take a seat, but he rested his hand on the back of the chair, leaning over it towards Dirge as if to exaggerate his point. "It's really simple, actually. It doesn't even require that much work."

Dirge pinched the bridge of nose in irritation. "Well?" He wanted to slap Thrust across the head but he knew that would accomplish nothing, so begrudgingly, he waited for Thrust to respond.

Thrust, moved from his previous position of leaning over the chair, had taken a seat. "Like I said, the plan is simple. All you need to sabotage the Autobots' base is to plant a bomb. A touch and go operation! You would set a timer, and you'd be in and out in no time before anyone can see you." He grinned. "See, I'm not as dumb as you both make me out to be."

Ramjet stared at Thrust from his seat in disbelief. "Wow, Thrust. That's… that's actually a good plan. How on Earth did you figure that out?"

"I just assumed it was obvious." He tried holding a straight face, but failed and his crooked smirk gave him away. "Nah, I'm kidding. I got it from a human movie that I tried checking out on their wireless info hub. I think it was called '_Mission Impossible'_."

Dirge rolled his eyes. "What were you doing browsing their information network?"

"I was bored!" Thrust huffed, sinking into his seat; "There's never anything to do around here."

* * *

><p>The plan was no sudden development. It took a lot of careful plotting and planning – well, as careful as you can be with these three coneheads. Thrust had tried to explain the details of his plan to the best of his ability. The idea was simple enough; Dirge simply had to plant a bomb above the ARK, set the timer, and get out of there as fast as possible without getting caught. The only problem they seemed to have encountered was the only crucial part of their plan – the bomb.<p>

Dirge shook his head. He had no idea where he was going to get a bomb. There was no way Megatron would grant them access to the armory after what had happened, and Hook wouldn't even let them get ten feet near his lab. Thrust had suggested building one from scratch, but Dirge shot him down right away, reminding him that none of them had any engineering experience either.

They all sat there for a few minutes pondering, and Dirge was about to give up and accept his doom until Ramjet spoke up again.

"Well, why don't we just take one off Bombshell?" He said, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms, sinking into his weight and glancing up at the other two coneheads with a thoughtful expression. "I mean, him and the other insecticons are almost never on base. I'm beginning to think that they actually live in the forest with all the time they spend there ingesting organic matter."

Thrust's smirk flashed up in appreciation of an approach so different from any Dirge had ever heard come from Ramjet, though in Thrust's case he was probably more appreciative of the fact that Ramjet was showing some brains for once. Neither of them had heard their teammate divulging in any plans as much as he was in this one. Dirge nodded slowly and waited for Ramjet to continue.

Lifting his head to face Dirge, he resumed speaking. "We all know he loves creating different kinds of explosives for fun, so why _wouldn't_ he have a few that he didn't give to Megatron? For all we know he could have a whole box full of high powered explosives just ready for the taking."

Thrust stared at Ramjet in amusement, "Wow 'Jet, did you figure that out yourself? Like I said, I know you can be blunt when it comes to well, _anything_, but you've never been so packed with ideas… you sure you aren't glitching or something?"

Ramjet, irritated, bit out an angry growl. "What did you say, _slagger_?" He was about to move from the wall to throw a punch a Thrust when Dirge abruptly grabbed his shoulder and kept him pressed against the wall. Ramjet turned to direct his glare at Dirge, but Dirge wasn't facing him.

Dirge sent his own glare to Thrust. "Thrust, you need to shut up before I _let_ him beat the slag out of you." He glowered, and then, while still holding Ramjet down, he turned towards him with an exhausted expression. "_Thank you_, Ramjet, for the idea. It really is a decent plan, and I'll start figuring out the right time to collect the bomb right away, but I don't need the two of you to start a fight in our own slagging_ quarters_." He looked between the two of them, and released his grasp on Ramjet who in turn leaned back onto the wall with an irritated expression. "I need both of you on the top of your game if we're ever going to appeal to Megatron again. And that means if you have any more ideas, don't slagging hesitate to _tell me._"

Thrust only laughed again, tapping his helmet at Ramjet. "But we don't want to get _too_ many ideas, do we? Wouldn't want to fry a circuit!" He cackled and pushed back even more into his seat and crossed his legs, resting his chin in hands.

That seemed to be just about all that Ramjet could bear, because he pulled himself from the wall facing Dirge with a look on his face that Dirge found impossible to make out and told him, "Whatever you say, _captain_._"_ Before leaving the room in a huff. In his anger, Ramjet didn't notice the shadowy figure on the ceiling, listening in on their conversation. As Ramjet stomped out of his room and continued down the hallway, the silhouetted figure crawled away, eager to share his news with his teammates.


End file.
